Bottles of whisky were selling well at hotels in Naseby yesterday as visitors stranded in the town decided to "sit by the fire and have a sip or two".
The town, 610m above sea level, usually bears the brunt of any southern snowfalls, but not this time.
"It looks like Naseby is one of the few areas with no snow, for a change," Maniototo ice rink manager Fred Newman said.
Ancient Briton Hotel bar manager Pat Excell said quite a few "extras" were stranded in the village.
"They can't get out to Oamaru or Dunedin so they're stranded here for another night. We've sold a few bottles of whisky this afternoon, with people stocking up and deciding to go home to their cribs and sit by the fire and have a sip or two," she said.
The rest of Central Otago received 3cm-8cm of snow on Sunday night but by noon yesterday most was thawing and most roads were open.
Senior Constable Jape Wanoa, of Roxburgh, said motorists had been driving to the conditions and there were no problems.
"Some of the roads have been pretty icy as well as snowy, so the drivers would be fools if they tried to travel too quickly."
St John Central Otago operations manager Peter Grayland said he did not think the conditions had caused any problems for ambulance staff.
With severe frosts expected this morning, he warned people to be careful today, not just driving but also walking outside.
Central Otago road safety adviser Jo Robinson said the Central Otago District Council was meeting a representative of the New Zealand Transport Agency today to air concerns on the difficulty of getting updated highway information.
"I know it's been a massive snow event but people need to be able to access information and the NZTA website was down for much of the time during the past two days."
Chains are needed on several council roads, including Dansey Pass and Roxburgh to Moa Flat.
